Unsung heroes of Chiang Mai the shoe repair man

Unsung hero of Chiang Mai :

Ger the show repair man .

I used to live in the area of Santitham Chiang Mai for a long time .
I would always see this guy in all kinds of weather sitting by the side of the road and having a steady trickle of locals bringing their shoes to get repaired .

In this day of the throw away society his is a dying art .
I always point foreigners in his direction when they come on line looking to get their shoes repaired .

So today I was driving past him and I thought I would stop to get his life story and a few pictures .

My Thai isn’t so great but I was lucky that Ploy who was there getting some boots repealed was there to translate and ask him questions .

This is his story .
As far as I could make out his name is Ger
He was born the youngest of seven children .
He is 46 years old
His mother had taken medicine when he was still inside and that had caused him to be deformed in his fingers and feet .
He happily showed me .

Obviously life was very tough for him and his family and been disabled in Thailand is very challenging .
There was a government scheme 23 years ago and he decided to enroll and he had three different teachers over a 10 month period .

He then was able to resole shoes and also stitch
As well as shoes he fixed zips and he can also fix bags .
In the 15 minutes I was there
He fixed a young mans shoulder bag that needed stitched and a new zip replaced .
Ploy also showed me her shoes that had been completely rehealed
Cost 40 bhat

With all his difficulties he faced in life he still has a warm heart and easily smiles
I often saw him like I said and there was always a local sitting with him .not necessarily getting anything repaired but just happy to sit and chat with him
If you do need any thing repaired his van is along the road that the seven senses guest house is located at behind the ymca Santitham .